


secret

by thesnickettaxi



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Angst, Oneshot, Some Explicit Language, implicit sexual references maybe?, my poor kit snicket, sort of just exploring how fucked up vfd is, sort of kit/esmé, toxic kit/esmé
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:21:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesnickettaxi/pseuds/thesnickettaxi
Summary: “you keep your own secrets perfectly well, don’t you snicket? secrets to line your pockets with, to get whatever you want with.”or, esmé and kit take their frustrations out on each other.
Relationships: Count Olaf/Kit Snicket, Kit Snicket/Esmé Squalor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	secret

**Author's Note:**

> this is sort of semi out of context. it takes place a few weeks after the killing of olaf’s parents, but other than that, i’m not gonna establish the context or wrap everything up nicely at the end. is it because i’m a lazy shitty writer? yes. shall we pretend it’s an artistic choice? also yes.

"you keep your own secrets perfectly well, don't you snicket? but everyone elses? it's all just currency to you, isn't it? secrets to line your pockets with, to get whatever you need." 

a growl exploded in kit's throat and she lunged towards the blonde, slamming her against the wall. their faces were inches apart, eyes blazing fiercely. 

"stop it. right. fucking. now." kit hissed harshly, her words icy and staccato causing an infuriatingly triumphant grin to dance across esmé's lips. despite kit's hands pinning her to the wall by her wrists, esmé's demeanour was calm and controlled while kit's breathing was erratic and unsteady. a dark scowl shadowed the snicket's face, her eyes narrowed into serpentine slits and her heart almost beating out of her chest. esme delighted in seeing the other young woman so riled up, daringly pushing her further, testing her temper like a scientist testing a subject. 

"oh kit darling, i've only just started. you're not the good little volunteer they think you are, are you? they doubted you after olaf's defection, and they were right to, weren't they?" the slightest flinch betrayed kit's fear of what esme was saying. her grasp on esmé's wrists slackened briefly, allowing her to twist her way out of the grip and flip the situation, slamming kit into the wall and holding her arms above her head, flashing a smirk at her. 

"not so mouthy now, are you snicket?" she gloated, the smile not slipping from her perfect pink lips for a single moment. people were games to esmé, and kit was one that she would win every time. the dark haired woman wasn't struggling, guilt written across her face in luminous ink. 

"i'm not a traitor," she whispered without conviction while esmé's smile turned gentle and sympathetic. 

"not quite, darling. but you thought about it, didn't you? your brothers were both climbing within the organisation. jacques was ordering missions and leading recruitment, lemony was their noble little soldier who would do anything if beatrice was by his side. but you, kit?" she clucked her tongue lightly in pity. 

"a mechanic here, a taxi driver there, that was all they used you for. but olaf promised you more, he promised you would do better, that you would finally be appreciated, be noticed-"

"stop." kit whispered, eyes swelling unwillingly with tears. anger flared up within esmé and with a lightning fast movement she brought her palm across kit's cheek in a sharp, stinging slap.

"don't interrupt me, snicket. it doesn't suit you." she snarled fiercely, succeeding in silencing kit. just as quickly as her tone had taken it's dark turn, it reverted back to silky softness. 

"he almost had you, didn't he? if the opera night mission hadn't occurred so soon, then we wouldn't be enemies right now, would we? perhaps we would be sat in a hot tub together somewhere. me... you... and him." she leaned closer, her breath hot and sweet against kit's cheek. kit was frozen mute, shivering slightly as esmé's lips skated across her cheekbone and towards her mouth, leaving small stains of pink gloss on kit's lightly freckled cheeks. stopping only a fragment away from kit's quivering lips, esmé pulled away and crossed the room, pouring herself a glass of whiskey with her trademark easy elegance. 

"been going through this bottle a bit quick, haven't you, darling?" esmé commented playfully with a knowing look up at kit, who stood rigidly against the wall, blinking her tears away and staring coldly at the beautiful blonde. she watched as esmé poured herself a whiskey and sipped it before speaking. 

"i wasn't going to betray vfd. i wasn't going to betray my family." she said hollowly. esmé simply gave a pitying and clearly disbelieving smile. when kit spoke again, there was a dangerous edge to her voice, her eyes calm and calculating as she straightened up, knuckles whitening as they clenched.

"and you're wrong about the opera night. it wasn't just luck that the mission happened that night. the count and countess weren't supposed to be eliminated for another month at least, until we had more information about them. but i couldn't stand to wait any longer." 

all the playfulness in esmé's demeanour evaporated in a single beat, leaving behind a cool wariness in her eyes. 

"it was all you." it was almost a question, hesitant to accept the answer, her eyes slowly narrowing. kit offered her nothing but a resigned shrug, faking nonchalance before collapsing into a chair, sinking into the cushions. 

"i did what had to be done. things were becoming too dangerous and i thought it would solve our problems." kit let out a harsh, loud bark of a laugh at her own naivety, almost making esmé jump at the abrupt sound. "clearly i was wrong." 

"i thought you really loved him. you fooled me." for the first time, real emotion crept into esmé's voice, losing her careful command over herself.  
"you fooled him too, didn't you?" she snapped viciously, contempt flashing brightly in her eyes. kit flinched from the bite in her tone but squared her jaw and spoke calmly, meeting her gaze solidly. 

"i did love him. but it wasn't about me." 

"he was in love with you!"

"he was a threat." it was cold and calm, cutting down esmé's outrage outright, shocking even kit herself with how detached and unemotional she sounded, as if she hadn't spent night after night in floods of tears about the choice she had made. 

esmé took a long unreadable look at her. kit couldn't tell if she was about to pull a knife on her - there was definitely at least one blade concealed in her curls, and she suspected one on the underneath of her stiletto too - keep screaming at her or maybe just storm out. instead, an icy smile ghosted her lips as she landed a winning strike on kit.

"you sound like jacques." 

the blow struck hard and kit couldn't argue. esmé wasn't wrong this time. she did sound like her brother. but she also sounded like esmé, and like olaf, and like ernest and frank and beatrice and bertrand and lemony. she sounded like all of them and she knew why. 

"i suppose we're all the same kind of fucked up, aren’t we?"


End file.
